Comfortable in the New Studio, in Maine, and with my Family

This has been a week of major ups and downs. On Tuesday my wife received some terrible news which we spent the majority of the week immersed in. That same Tuesday I had started work on a new lighthouse piece. I had found a piece in the art studios in 401 at MECA last Saturday which started me drawing. The piece reminded me of some of Jeff Soto’s work and a myriad of other artists whose work had graced the pages of Juxtapoz. Blaine Fontana’s animal works seemed to be definitely of the same vein as well. The thought that really struck me was that whoever this art student was, he had taken a universal symbol, in this case a bird, and placed it within the constructs of symbols which makes up his artist language, rays, drips and cloud blobs. It suddenly dawned on me that that was one of the missing links to my work. I work with some many different symbols, the drops, the squares, the waves, and the creatures, but I don’t mix them. I have never been dependent on backgrounds or setting to create images, so it would seem that I should utilize something to enhance the picture plane. It only makes sense to develop more of a pattern out of the symbols that I use regularly.

If I do make these patterns and mix them with the character imagery as my major point of interest I think that will create the best picture that I am currently capable of. Patterning is something that I do naturally. I simply wasn’t aware that I was making patterns until I looked at this student’s work.

I was very impressed with the way the image began to develop when I just started thinking of my normal shape making as patterning. It allowed me to think of things purely from a design sense. When I am only concerning myself with shape, scale and color I can create something far more cohesive compositionally and dynamically than when I am attempting to manufacture the proper space.

Yesterday my friend and I loaded up my little S10 with two loads worth of stuff to take to the dump and moved some more stuff into studio. I am finally all moved in. It feels so good to just have a space that is settled. Today I spent a couple hours organizing and then set to work on an old piece that was never very well thought out. I realized that the smoke that I always make is a pattern. Much like in poetry there are styles which are very formulaic and measured in contrast to other styles which are more free form, this pattern is closer to the free form pattern side than the more rigid patterning rules like checker boarding or honeycomb.

Here is an image of the new studio set up. There is a lot of space for books and stacks of sketchbooks and small paper products like circulation cards and index cards. I love it.

In conclusion, I realized while working on these patterns that life is very much a free form pattern. People are born just as other people die. Good times are often immediately preceded or followed by more trying times. We make friends and we lose them. We buy new objects to replace our old objects. All in all, the actions are always very similar. We are a freely flowing pattern. I am a pattern that has found some more comfort with the up and down. It is a pleasure to face the trying times knowing that my decisions influence not only my life but the life of my immediate family. It is also with great joy that I am able to accept the good times as I know that those times will positively affect my family.

I feel a bit more whole. Keep up.
Peace
-Mike

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